Hi Everyone, my name is Anna Lee and I am a CND Education Ambassador in the UK. For the past 4 years, I have been working with the SEA (South East Asian) nail community helping them progress and move forward by encouraging them to get better education. In the past 4 years, I have signed hundreds of CND certificates to CND qualified SEA nail techs.
In regards to Powder gels/ gel powder, a lot of my students use it. There is in fact a product called "Powder Gel". But Powder Gel is indeed a form of liquid & powder. But let's not all jump into conclusion that these salons are all out to deliberately lie and mislead the general public. The answer to this commonly asked question is simple - They call it Gel Powder because that is what the manufactures call it. That is what it says on the container. So if the manufacturer tells them what they are using is called Gel Powder, then that is what they are going to call it on the service menu. It really is that simple. Just like CND says their CND Shellac polish is not a gel, then you are not going to call it a "CND gel polish", you are going to call it whatever CND has told you to call it, in this case "CND Shellac 14 Day+ Nail colour". Remember that we always bang on about following the manufactures guidelines?
They price the gel power at a slightly price because the manufactures sell it to them at a higher price. They say the gel powder is better for the nails because the manufacture tells them it is better for the nails hence the higher price. If anything, it is of a better quality of Liquid & Powder than they usually use. It has much better clarity, better adhesion and is easier to work with.
You may sit there and wonder why hasn't any of these nail techs ever questioned what they are using? So yes, I agree, it is the lack of education. Maybe they don't realise Gel Powder doesn't exist? Maybe they don't even know what L&P is? But If you don't know - you don't know. And sometimes we need understand, that if a product works for your clients, you are booked with appointments back to back and you don't have problems with it, it is most likely that you won't be questioning it at all. You will just go with whatever the manufacturer's guidelines are which is what they have done in this case.
If we flip the coin to the other side, I have had many non-SEA students attend my classes not knowing anything about the products they are using - be it L&P, UV gel or UV nail coating. Some people like to find answers, some people don't. Some people like to attend classes, some people don't think it's neccessary. It's just personal preference. It could be the lack of education and not necessarily out to deliberately mislead the general public at all.
The SEA nail techs and salons are not actually doing anything wrong. It just SEEMS wrong to the rest of us because most of us don't understand the situation properly so therefore we are all adding our own assumptions. And ultimately, that's where all the negativity are started and created. Some of these issues really are simple and not at all complicated.
My points are not to defend this powder gel that they are using, I can see how this can be misleading but ultimately, that is the manufactures problem with terminology and marketing, NOT the salon's or the nail tech. My main concern is how the lack of integrity and morals of the SEA nail techs are sometimes suggested just because they are known to use this product so I am here to give information in hopes that I can help to eliminate any negativities.
I hope this information is useful to all. Hope this helps with your understanding.
